Proud to get on my high horse Cold comfort
I ENJOYED the pictures and article about the Suffolk Punch horse (Mail). I had a lovely mare of that breed which I showed at Windsor and around the county circuit for two seasons in the mid-Eighties. Her first owner named her Daisy Roots, which is cockney for ‘big boots’. This name was apt — her hooves were the size of soup plates. The vet who measured her at 15.1, aged three, was later surprised to learn she did not grow taller as she matured. She just grew bone and muscle. Many judges were perplexed by her and queried her breeding. At the Royal International Horse Show in 1986, Daisy Roots was second in the working hunter cob class and fourth in the heavyweight ridden cob class. The working hunter class included 3ft 9in fences and as I was only 5ft 3in and weighed just over seven stone, I was not capable of holding her together over such a difficult course. So, she was ridden by the late, great young horseman, Marcus Chambers. A talented jumper as her power was all in the hind quarters, Marcus assessed her as capable of becoming a Grade B show jumper. She qualified twice for the Horse of the Year Show at Wembley, but appeared only once. An accident in the paddock during her second summer on the circuit left a scar, sadly ending her show career. She went on to become a field hunter. Daisy Roots was an ideal horse: kind, well mannered, amenable and a delightful ride. You just needed to carry I WAS brought up in North Yorkshire where in winter we often had cold weather.
Friends who lived on the moors couldn’t get to class for days because of deep snow, but the schools were kept open, no matter the weather.
Travelling across North London earlier this week, I noticed a dusting of snow. I was surprised that this made the headlines. There must be a new meaning to the term the snowflake generation
No wonder all my relatives in the North of England and Scotland like to ridicule the soft Southerners.
Mrs S. FELLA, Enfield, Middx. MY WIFE made sure she followed all the official advice that anyone travelling in this snowy spell must take essential emergency equipment with them including a shovel, sleeping bag, food and drink, a parachute the first time you popped over a substantial fence! I sincerely hope we do not lose this versatile and unique breed. Mrs ELIZABETH MACKERT,
Ormskirk, Lancs. de-icer, rock salt, first aid kit and jump leads.
However, the other passengers on the train gave her some funny looks. TERRY HARRIS, Laindon, Essex. I BLAME Eddie the Eagle for the bad weather! It started just a couple of days after he said we shouldn’t give much money to our Winter Olympics team as we don’t get enough snow in this country.
When it snows in the South, it’s on the news. But if we get it in the North, there’s little mention of it. We just put our boots on and get on with it. STEPHEN TONG, Pudsey, W. Yorks.